JEE Main 2026: Student Who Scored 0.57 Percentile Says He Isn't 'Ashamed'

JEE Main 2026: When the results of JEE Main 2026 were declared, classrooms and coaching centres across the country celebrated their toppers. But on Reddit, one student chose to celebrate something else entirely, his 0.57 percentile. In a post that quickly went viral on r/JEENEETards, the 18-year-old proudly claimed what he called the “bottom spot” in the exam. Instead of hiding the scorecard, he shared a screenshot and invited the internet to “roast him in HD.” What followed were thousands of comments like jokes, memes, disbelief, and surprisingly, encouragement.

When Free Press Journal spoke to him, the story behind that 0.57 percentile turned out to be far more layered than a punchline.

Originally from Bihar and now living in Kolkata, the student says academics were never his first love. He got his first computer in Class 6 and was hooked. “Since then, I’ve spent almost 12 hours a day on a computer,” he says matter-of-factly.

By middle school, he was exploring video game development. By his own admission, textbooks slowly became “secondary.” He describes himself as a self-learner who could finish technical courses in a fraction of the time, but struggled to stay focused on Physics or Mathematics chapters.

Financial constraints forced him to pause early project ideas. After Class 10, like thousands of others chasing an IIT dream, he went to Kota.

Kota journey

Kota, for many, is either a launchpad or a breaking point. For him, it was isolating. “I was there for two years. I didn’t make many friends,” he says. An introvert by nature, he spent more time on his screen than in study groups.

Mock tests hovered around average. He knew early that his scores were unlikely to translate into a competitive percentile. Still, JEE remained an option not necessarily a passion.

By Class 12, things grew more complicated. He scored 57% and landed in compartment for Mathematics. He reappeared and faced compartment again. Around the same time, a startup-style tech project he had built began gaining traction online, drawing thousands of subscribers and social media followers.

Then came a setback. He claims an intellectual property dispute halted the project’s progress. Social media accounts were taken down. The momentum disappeared overnight. “That was my primary focus,” he says. “When that stopped, I felt mentally exhausted.”

JEE Exam Preparation

By the time JEE Main 2026 arrived, his preparation was fragmented. He says he attempted roughly 30–40% of the paper seriously and guessed the rest. In frustration, he even tried marking some answers deliberately wrong.

According to the viral screenshot, he scored 12.9624080 in Physics, 0.3625848 in Chemistry, and 31.8722563 in Mathematics, resulting in a total NTA score of 0.5715955 percentile.

He insists the result wasn’t entirely accidental, but neither was it strategic brilliance. It was, in his words, “what could be worse than this?”

Why he posted his score card?

Most students with low scores quietly move on. He did the opposite. “Success is celebrated by everyone,” he says. “I just wanted to celebrate this. Like okay, I’ve seen the worst. Now what?”

He didn’t expect the post to trend. Within hours, it did. Messages poured in some mocking, some empathetic, some thanking him for normalising failure in a hyper-competitive exam culture.

When asked if he feared ridicule, he shrugs it off. “People will say things anyway.”

Future planning

Currently reappearing for his CBSE board exams after mistakenly registering under a category that now requires him to retake all five subjects he says he’s trying to reset.

For now, tech projects are on hold. The focus is on boards and upcoming entrance exams, including JEE Advanced and WBJEE. If those don’t work out, he plans to join a decent college and aim abroad within a year. “Germany is the dream,” he says, without hesitation. “Tech is strong there. Startup is still the main goal.”

The 0.57 percentile, he insists, is not the headline of his life just a chapter.

And in a results season dominated by perfect scores and All India Ranks, his story has quietly carved out a different kind of space, one where failure isn’t hidden, but owned.

Published on: Tuesday, February 24, 2026, 06:52 PM IST